Controversial Hits Surround Two Western Conference Games

Last night, the top two teams in the Western Conference faced off.

The San Jose Sharks hosted the Chicago Blackhawks in what ended up being a wild game that ended with the Blackhawks winning 5 - 3.

In other action, the defending champions, Los Angeles Kings, visited the Columbus Blue Jackets who have three former Rangers on their team. The Kings squeezed out a 4 - 2 victory with Mike Richards recording a Gordie Howe Hat-trick.

Both games, however, were mired with some controversy. In both games, there were game misconducts with Andrew Desjardins and Brandon Dubinsky getting ejected for dangerous and "illegal" hits.

Follow me after the jump for videos and my opinion on the incidents.

With 11:18 left in the 2nd period, Desjardins caught Jamal Mayers with what at first seemed like an illegal blindside hit to the head.

After seeing the replay, its obvious that it was a clean hit. Desjardins caught Mayers with his head down and connected with his shoulder. Duncan Keith defended his teammate and ended up attacking Desjardins for what he believed to be a dirty hit.

After the game, Mayers told reporters that this was a hit the the league is "trying to get out of our game". But Sharks Coach, Todd McLellan, thought otherwise by stating that "it was a terrible call".

I have to side with the Sharks on this one. It was a clean hit and it could have given the team momentum - instead the Blackhawks took advantage of their PowerPlay and ended up coming out with the victory.

In the other game of the night, Brandon Dubinsky, who was part of a package that was dealt to Columbus for Rick Nash and who has yet to score a goal this season, was ejected for a hit from behind on Rob Scuderi.

We do not even need to see the replay to determine the severity of that hit. Scuderi never turned his back to Dubinsky and was still drilled hard into the boards from behind. His head was slammed against the glass and Mike Richards ended up attacking the perpetrator.

The perpetrator was ironically his one time foe. If you remember, both players squared off numerous times when they were still in the Atlantic Division.

It would not surprise me if Dubinsky was handed a suspension. My prediction: 3 games.